Women who say "Khrap" to the foreigner

[riceyummm]

The cutest thing I saw at a hawker centre in Patts. Father talking to the cutest puss daughter like teaching her some rules: She just said ka ka ka ka ka

Father:.. and then you do this and... then he said "Khao Jai Ba"

I like the "Ba" I think its cute and sounds good and I also like "Ja" to say yes. I dont like "Krup" for some reason will use instead Krup Pom or pronounced KarrPom (Probably wrong!)

Quite possibly the word was "Baw" which is the Isaan word for "Mai" and changes the statement into the question "Do you understand ?" or "Got it?".

[henry15]

A man who says Kha to a woman is flirting

[tomcam]

This is one of many fascinating discussions I have seen on Thai Visa that I would like to send a link to friends in the US but I would never do it because of the ads that seem to be aimed at pedophiles. Why does Thai Visa allow such ads??? This is the first time in more than 5 years that I have ever commented on Thai Visa.

[jcisco]

Why is this language so enduringly poorly documented

[carter1882]

Dear Tomcam,

"Easy Thai in Ten Hours" is a language course, not an invitation to pedophiles.

Regards,

[BWPattaya]

every heard of a joke? Thais like to have fun with their language and not be so serious all the time

I hear it sometimes and I occasionally reply with a "Ka" and a smile. I generally get a smile in return. I certainly don't take offence at it. Like someone else pointed out some Thais like to play with the language.

[bigwhitewarrior]

every heard of a joke? Thais like to have fun with their language and not be so serious all the time

I hear it sometimes and I occasionally reply with a "Ka" and a smile. I generally get a smile in return. I certainly don't take offence at it. Like someone else pointed out some Thais like to play with the language.

Try using Ha as a Farang and the whole place will laugh with you ;-)

[BWPattaya]

The cutest thing I saw at a hawker centre in Patts. Father talking to the cutest puss daughter like teaching her some rules: She just said ka ka ka ka ka

Father:.. and then you do this and... then he said "Khao Jai Ba"

I like the "Ba" I think its cute and sounds good and I also like "Ja" to say yes. I dont like "Krup" for some reason will use instead Krup Pom or pronounced KarrPom (Probably wrong!)

Someone else has pointed out that you may heard someone say "Khao Jai Ba" but using Isaan or Laos to say Baw, to make it a question.

Think of "Kar pom""as being similar to "Same to you"

E.g. Say thank you to someone and they reply "Same to you"

[bigwhitewarrior]

The cutest thing I saw at a hawker centre in Patts. Father talking to the cutest puss daughter like teaching her some rules: She just said ka ka ka ka ka

Father:.. and then you do this and... then he said "Khao Jai Ba"

I like the "Ba" I think its cute and sounds good and I also like "Ja" to say yes. I dont like "Krup" for some reason will use instead Krup Pom or pronounced KarrPom (Probably wrong!)

Someone else has pointed out that you may heard someone say "Khao Jai Ba" but using Isaan or Laos to say Baw, to make it a question.

Think of "Kar pom""as being similar to "Same to you"

E.g. Say thank you to someone and they reply "Same to you"

Please remember thay Ba also means crazy ..and Kra Pom means yes sir !

[CapeCobra]

This is one of many fascinating discussions I have seen on Thai Visa that I would like to send a link to friends in the US but I would never do it because of the ads that seem to be aimed at pedophiles. Why does Thai Visa allow such ads??? This is the first time in more than 5 years that I have ever commented on Thai Visa.

I have no idea what you are talking about. I only see ads for treatment of arthritis and for cheap flights. How does an ad for paedophiles look like?

[Squeegee]

With regards to "Kao-jai, ba?" it was my understanding that this is not the same particle as the Isaan dialect's 'Baw'.

I once asked a Thai about it after I heard some BKK students using it and they said it's informal, like between friends or people of similar status. 'Baw' can also be transliterated as 'Bor', whereas this would be incorrect (as far as the science of transliteration goes) for 'Ba'. It also has a completely different tone to 'Baa' ("crazy") and shorter vowel sound. Another example of its usage is "Ch-ba?" as an informal version of "Chai-mai?" Note that 'Chai-mai' most often features the full 'ai' whereas with 'Ch-ba?' even the 'Chai' gets shortened to the 'ch' sound only, lending weight to the informal definition as opposed to that of being a separate dialect.

There is a similar misconception with "Sow wow", the Isaan dialect equivalent of "Niab" ('be quiet'). Apparently, although both the sound and meaning are identical, "Sow wow" may be used by some central/BKK Thais as well but they are not actually speaking paasaa Isaan at all. I didn't quite get to the bottom of exactly where that one comes from though.

Thanks everyone for the kind words about the subject matter for this topic. So it seems there are some things not so commonly talked about when it comes to Thailand.

[loloal]

You hit my curiosity so I was going to investigate this 'Ba', when I suddenly realized :

Aren't we actually talking about ป่ะ, 'bPa', wich is the shortened version of ป่าว 'bPaao', wich is shortened/colloquial version of รึเปล่า 'reu bPlaao', wich is the colloquial version of หรือ 'reuu bPlaao'

Makes sense to you รึเปล่า ?

Who said this language is not interesting or fun ?

According to http://www.thai-language.com/id/150789 it's used mostly by women. Myself I remember hearing mostly girls using it ; but maybe do I spend too much time with thai girls and not so much with thai men

[katana]

This is one of many fascinating discussions I have seen on Thai Visa that I would like to send a link to friends in the US but I would never do it because of the ads that seem to be aimed at pedophiles. Why does Thai Visa allow such ads??? This is the first time in more than 5 years that I have ever commented on Thai Visa.

I have no idea what you are talking about. I only see ads for treatment of arthritis and for cheap flights. How does an ad for paedophiles look like?

I think the ads you see are served up by your internet history via tracking cookies so eg if you're in an internet cafe and the previous user has been surfing porn sites it will be reflected in the ads.

With regards to "Kao-jai, ba?" it was my understanding that this is not the same particle as the Isaan dialect's 'Baw'.

I once asked a Thai about it after I heard some BKK students using it and they said it's informal, like between friends or people of similar status. 'Baw' can also be transliterated as 'Bor', whereas this would be incorrect (as far as the science of transliteration goes) for 'Ba'. It also has a completely different tone to 'Baa' ("crazy") and shorter vowel sound. Another example of its usage is "Ch-ba?" as an informal version of "Chai-mai?" Note that 'Chai-mai' most often features the full 'ai' whereas with 'Ch-ba?' even the 'Chai' gets shortened to the 'ch' sound only, lending weight to the informal definition as opposed to that of being a separate dialect.

There is a similar misconception with "Sow wow", the Isaan dialect equivalent of "Niab" ('be quiet'). Apparently, although both the sound and meaning are identical, "Sow wow" may be used by some central/BKK Thais as well but they are not actually speaking paasaa Isaan at all. I didn't quite get to the bottom of exactly where that one comes from though.

Thanks everyone for the kind words about the subject matter for this topic. So it seems there are some things not so commonly talked about when it comes to Thailand.

[Edit: Cross-posted with lolaol]:

ปะ (sometimes misspelt ป่ะ;b++){var>, since the ไม้เอก is redundant for a low tone) comes from รึป่าว (or not).

eg จริงปะ - Is that true?; ชอบปะ - Do you like it?

[loloal]

I didn't notice the redundancy of the tone marker and you are right. I guess it is inherited from the word it shortens.

A google search on "เข้าใจป่ะ" returns 179 000 results ; "เข้าใจปะ" 'only' 59 000, looks like the incorrect one is more popular.

Maybe it also helps to differentiate with the other meanings of ปะ wich can mean "repair".

[loloal]

I just remembered -and verified on this FB post- that ปะ alone can also mean "Let's go !". Probably a shortened ไป.

I hear it quite often. "ปะ ๆๆๆๆ !"

I feel like it can convey both meanings at the same time, like "Either you give me a reason not to go now, either you/we go right now."

What do you think ?

[CapeCobra]

I just remembered -and verified on this FB post- that ปะ alone can also mean "Let's go !". Probably a shortened ไป.

I hear it quite often. "ปะ ๆๆๆๆ !"

I feel like it can convey both meanings at the same time, like "Either you give me a reason not to go now, either you/we go right now."

What do you think ?

---------

ป่ะ means go and is a non-standard form of ไป. The tone mark is important. Tone mark plus mid class initial consonant make it low tone. ปะ means patch, mend, repair etc. No tone mark, dead vowel, mid class consonant also make it low tone.

-------

[katana]

I just remembered -and verified on this FB post- that ปะ alone can also mean "Let's go !". Probably a shortened ไป.

I hear it quite often. "ปะ ๆๆๆๆ !"

I feel like it can convey both meanings at the same time, like "Either you give me a reason not to go now, either you/we go right now."

What do you think ?

Yes, I've heard ปะ (reduced form of ไป) for let's go too. Usually they meet your eye and say ปะ and it's time to go from whatever you were doing eg eating a meal etc.

[phuketsub]

I think the use of 'krap' by women to foreign men is playful, slightly flirtatious. I never take offence to it.

On a different tangent, I noticed over the years that many Thais when speaking to foreigners in their own language often use the English-language pronoun "I"

instead of the correct Thai pronoun, whether it be ผม, ฉัน or whatever....

In fact, I have to admit that I sometimes catch myself doing the same thing when I speak Thai...maybe it's just pure laziness, but it also gets you out of having to make the choice

between ผม and ฉัน.

I wonder if any other members have fallen into this bad habit.

[carter1882]

I generally dont use I for the personal pronoun but do occasionally say " I ko mai ruu" . My own habit with pronouns is to use my christian name with people i know well. I know that this is the habit of women or ladyboys rather than men but hey, I am a foreigner so I figure I dont fit into the normal Thai speaking slots. I generally use phom for people I am not so familiar with and chan for facetiousness and jokes. A foreigner can play with the language in a way the Thai cannot necessarily do. I taught the language at international schools for twenty years and i always told my students not to obsess about pronouns and to enjoy speaking the language without obeying ALL the rules.

[raggedclaws]

My wife is 39 and uses it a lot – often with male children and nearly always with younger men than her, especially in their teens and 20’s. It is absolutely NOT flirtatious. She’s just reminding them of their manners and to use the very polite ‘khrap’ word. (Much as kids are told to ‘mind your and P’s and Q’s’).

[CaptainKitty]

I've never heard any krap from anyone but a friend of mine uses "kapom" onthe phone a lot ... don't know why? she likes boys...

[loloal]

I asked a 24y/o girl this morning, "You just said Khrap didn't you ?

_ yes

_ why ?

_ because I want

_ fou say khrap with everybody or just friends ?

_ friends

_ why ?

_ I don't know, because I want"

[dao16]

I have experienced some women doing it as a gender-bending joke. I did ask one girl about it, and she said "I just like to say 'krap' sometimes." It's odd, but I don't think it is an insult or anything. It reminds me of times when people pronounce silent letters in words and everyone laughs. Not sure why that is so funny here, but it is.

[loloal]

Guess we can split it in 2 categories :

1) for fun

2) in order to teach younger men the use of 'khrap'

...

3) please keep this interesting topic alive